IL1B and neurodegenerative disease: However, it is important to note that although pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF family of cytokines) have been shown to result in neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases when expression is high, at constitutive levels they are required for normal physiological functioning, particularly in the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for learning, memory and cognition (McAfoose and Baune, 2009).